Tired Of Waiting, Shays Adopts Civil Rights Policy Of His Own

November 24, 1991|By ALAN CULLISON; Courant Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — Congress so far has declared itself exempt from any of the civil rights and labor laws that it has passed. But that hasn't stopped Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4th District, from adopting an informal policy of his own.

Bound in a plastic jacket and resting in a public bookcase for all his staff to see is the Chris Shays office manual -- a disparate set of rules on everything from telephone etiquette to sexual harassment.

Shays said he and his staff members gradually compiled the manual over the years because of the "principal of the thing."

"[Congress] wouldn't be in the mess we're in today if we abided by the laws of this country," Shays said. "This is a good idea -- something that I am solidly behind."

The first few pages of the manual declare that Shays will not hire or fire anyone because of a person's "race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation or physical disability."

Shays said it is up to his staff members whether they smoke or drink in their spare time. But the manual holds them to sobriety during working hours and tells them to refrain from drug use at all times. It also forbids "gambling of any kind in this office."

Shays said the manual was expanded gradually over the past three years as he and staff members saw the need arise. When a congressman from California was accused of sexually harassing members of his staff, the office compiled a section on sexual harassment.

Today that section is one of the longest in the manual. It defines harassment as "a form of exploitation and intimidation which is economically enforced by virtue of the professional relationship."

Examples of such harassment include "graphic or degrading comments about an employee's appearance, dress or anatomy" or "prurient or intrusive questions about an employee's personal life."

"Some of the manual has come out of events," Shays said. "But some of it is just practical. It is a ready reference for all of us, including me, about what proper behavior is. It is a contract between me and the employees who work here."

Some of the manual is devoted to simple etiquette: "Derogatory comments of any kind," the manual says, "about other congressmen or constituents is prohibited."

It also says which requests from constituents are unreasonable:

"As a rule Chris Shays does not nominate business leaders for awards. There are too many outstanding people to choose from."

Constituents hoping to get a loved one out of jail probably will not get much help from the office. "We operate on the following rule of thumb: Requests to get someone out of jail are `hands off.' We will, however, make inquiries into requests to have federal prisoners brought closer to home."

Connecticut members of Congress want to return to Washington after Thanksgiving.

Rep. Gary A. Franks, R-5th District, and his Republican colleagues wrote to the president and House leaders, urging a session in December.

"The state of Connecticut's economy and that of the entire New England region is in a shambles," Franks said. "The people elected members of Congress to act, not play politics with their futures."

Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3rd District, agreed, saying "if middle-class tax relief is to be a real priority, we must follow up our words with deeds."

"I for one regret that we may come to a point here where we are going to fold our tent and go home," Dodd said in a Senate floor speech.

Shays this week voted against the defense bill, the only Connecticut House member to do so.

He noted that Congress spent right up to its self-imposed limits, instead of looking for ways to cut.

"The caps are the ceiling, not the floor," Shays said. "All the people who are saying `The world is different now' still want to spend up to the caps."

Rep. Barbara B. Kennelly, D-1st District, joined other House leaders last week in urging President Bush to show more leadership on domestic issues.

The leaders claimed Bush's only policy is to veto programs, such as higher unemployment benefits or an increased minimum wage, that would help pull the country out of the recession.

Kennelly, a deputy majority whip, was particularly annoyed at Bush's veto last week of the labor-health and human services-education spending bill. Bush objected to a provision overturning the administration's ban on abortion counseling at federally funded family clincs.

"This veto was aimed at mostly poor women who go to federally subsidized medical care centers," she said. "It was aimed at their right to full information and their right to privacy."

It took three years' trying, but Rep. Sam Gejdenson, D-2nd District, appears to have gotten through a get-tough proposal for boaters who dump garbage into Long Island Sound.

Gejdenson has complained in the past that existing fines -- as much as $250,000 -- have not been enough to deter boaters from dumping medical waste and hazardous materials. So under Gejdenson's proposal, boaters would be subject to the fine the first time they are caught and could have their boats confiscated if caught again.

Dumpers, who are paid as much as $2,000 a ton to get rid of

things such as medical waste, might not think it worthwhile, he said.

"The risk of losing your boat -- and your livelihood -- should be incentive enough," he said.

Gejdenson has been introducing the measure since 1989, but, like most bills, it never went anywhere. But last week, fellow Democrats tacked it onto the Ocean Dumping Reauthorization Act in the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee.

That act is not a controversial one among congressional members and is expected to pass the House shortly.